Baaa! The sheep are coming

They may not be around in great numbers just yet, but it's coming up on sheepshead season for fishermen in and around Anna Maria Island.

Within the next few weeks, look for sheepshead to gather around rocks and bridge and dock pilings, feeding off barnacles and crustaceans. They can be tricky to catch, but here are some tips and advice on how to snag one.

As far as bait goes, bring specialty ones these fish cannot resist, which include crushed mussels and clams, fiddler crabs, pelagic red crabs, sand crabs, sand fleas and shrimp. They are used to eating things with shells on, so soft, pre-cut baits won't be to their liking. Shrimp is perhaps the most effective bait of all, though, if you have a good source.

For rigs, use either a sliding sinker held about 2 ft. up the line from the hook by a small split shot or barrel swivel. This is good in shallow water and off piers and jetties.

In deeper water, reverse dropper-loops are more effective. This is made up by tying the hook to the end of the line and hanging a weight from a dropper-loop a couple of feet up the line. Pin a shrimp, sand flea, crab, piece of mussel or other bait on to the hook and drop it down on to the reef. Sheepshead feed by biting crustaceans off the rocks so it is best to fish right on the bottom or not more than a few feet above it.

There you go. Now get out there and round up some sheepshead.

Shark tale, marlin tail

A bit of a change of tack fish fans for this week's instalment. While we're scratching around hauling up grouper and reds from the deep, over in the frankly terrifying waters of Australia, this sort of thing is going on.

The black marlin in the film is huge, HUGE!, so how big must the great white have been to bite it in half? This is why I am never, ever, ever, going swimming in Australia.

Enjoy!

Windy weather snook seek shelter

Windy weather has affected fishing from the shores and on the water around Anna Maria recently. But the smart fisherman heads to the back waters, finds himself a pier or jetty and goes after snook.

You don't have to venture too far to find them. General advice holds that you can locate snook within the first 100 feet of the canals until the winter weather really kicks in.

As Nick Walter writes in the Anna Maria Islander, 'A typical afternoon water temperature in the bays last weekend was 75-76 degrees — perfect for snook. The days remaining in the open snook season are dwindling, while anglers on the west coast have until Dec. 1 to keep one snook per day, between 28 and 33 inches.'

It's worth bearing that in mind people, don't take more than you are allowed. We want those snook to be here for generations to come...

Tight lines all!

Bait causing a Ballyhoo

The fishing is a little slow at the moment, what with the high pressure front and those big old blue skies, but as a result, the bait fish are showing in numbers.

One of the best bait fish around is the ballyhoo, a killer for snook, kingfish and other hard-fighters, and they are currently to be found all around the island and in the bays.

Use a net or some small feathers to catch yourself enough for a day's session, but don't put too many in your bucket or bait-keeper, as they need a bit of space. A live bait is best!

Take a look at this video from FloridaKeysFishStories.com on how to rig one for best results.

Snook season is here!

Hello there again fishing buddies!

Sorry it's been a while since I last cast you a line, but my waters have been real choppy recently. Thankfully all is calm again now.

So, let's start again at a great time of year for Florida fishermen: snook season. It's just got under way here in Anna Maria and already fishermen are reporting good lineside catches.
The snook is a hard-fighting fish, but can be tricky to snag, so here are some very basic tips on methods and times.

Method:
Live shrimp – Once the snook has been located, fish live shrimp using a 10 to 20 pound outfit with 30" of 40lb shock leader tied to a 1/0 or 2/0 hook. Weight the line with only enough split shot or sinker to get it to the bottom.
Live bait fish – Mullet, menhaden, pinfish,etc. Again using the same outfit but using a larger hook to match the bait.
Lures – A wide variety of lures and jigs are used to catch snook. Some of the favorites include the Red Tailed Hawk jig and many of the Mirrolures.

Tides:
The best time to fish for Snook is from one hour before high tide through the first three hours of the falling tide.

Paul Roat, writing in the Anna Maria Islander, says, 'linesiders are being hooked off the beaches of Anna Maria Island, but most of the action is coming from the passes and in the bays'.

So what are you waiting for? Get out there and cast a line for these powerful pisces, you're in for a good work-out if you snag one.

Tight lines!

Cortez fishermen pitched beneath cloudy skies

Bad news for commercial fishermen in Cortez this week. New commercial grouper fishing regulations designed to save sea turtles have left some Cortez fishermen out of action.
According to the Anna Maria Sun newspaper, of the dozen grouper boats fishing out of Cortez, five will be able to use longlines under new rules passed by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council last week.
The new rules are intended to reduce the number of longline boats, which regulators hope will minimize interactions with sea turtles. Longliners typically drop a line with 750 to 1,200 baited hooks on the sea floor for five to 10 miles, and begin retrieving it within an hour.
For boats to qualify for a longline endorsement, the new rules require minimum average annual catches of 40,000 pounds. They also prohibit using more than 750 hooks at a time, with 1,000 maximum on board, and prohibit shallow water grouper fishing from June to August, when turtles are plentiful in the eastern Gulf.
Several fishermen testified at the hearing that they had never encountered a single dead sea turtle on their longlines. Recreational fishermen and environmental groups, often at odds with the commercial industry, also questioned statistics at the hearing.
It seems the fishermen have no choice to but to keep fighting the ban - and hope that the skies on the horizon are brighter than they appear overhead at the moment.
Read the full story here

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The secrets of snook

Hi there fishing fans!

The snook are on the move! Various reports have the snook are moving off the beaches and into Longboat Pass and to Bean Point in preparation for the start of the season next month. How do they know?!

Anyway, to make sure you are as prepared as possible to take on these hard-fighting creatures, here's some sage advice from Sun-Sentinel outdoors writer Steve Waters and Tom Greene of Custom Rod & Reel.

Watch and learn people, watch and learn...